The high jagged peaks, massive glaciers, blue lakes and steep mountainsides of the Canadian Rocky Mountains have been pictured so often in travel posters, ads for Canadian Pacific Railroad and on the movie screen that they have become the standard of perfect mountain scenery. Travelers who finally see them in person are not disappointed.
The mountains and the lakes at their feet have burned themselves into people's imaginations ever since Nelson Eddie crooned love songs to Jeanette MacDonald in long-ago films. It's hard to see them without hearing Canadian Love Call or Rose Marie wafting in the mountain breeze.
Standing in the valley and gazing up at the mountains, they are even more unforgettable. Huge rocky summits saw at the skyline, with green pines and firs tumbling down the mountainsides into deep valleys below. In the crevices between slopes are immense patches of white, icy glaciers that advance and retreat each year.
Those glaciers are the source of the Rockies’ other natural wonder, the milky green lakes and ponds that fill the low valley floors. The area around the little town of Lake Louise has three such lakes that are unspoiled and should be on everyone’s short list of places to see. Moraine Lake, Lake Agnes and Lake Louise itself are highlights of any trip to the Rockies.
These three lakes, all in Banff National Park and close to the town of Lake Louise, set the standard for high mountain lakes. They combine the majesty of the mountains, the lush dark greens of wilderness forests and the peaceful, reflective qualities of water in an unforgettable way.
Each of these three lakes is different. The largest, Lake Louise, has a sweeping scale. Tucked into its glacial valley, one end is dominated by the imposing Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise Resort and a park. Opposite it, the far end rises to the massive whiteness of the Victoria Glacier. The smallest of the three, Lake Agnes sits high up above lake Louise on the shoulder of a mountain, its waters falling into the wilderness below. The third, Moraine Lake, lies at the end of a long valley where the mountain slopes tower close to its placid waters.
These lakes, each quite different, is a study in color, texture and form, and each inspires endless possibilities for artists’ and photographers’ imaginations. The sharp cliffs that tumble to the shore are doubled by reflections. A hillside of pointed firs is reflected upside-down in the water and a sole kayak floats through the scene. At dawn the pink light bounces off of a white glacier, filling the quiet lake surface with its mirrored image. Every view of them seems like a stage set.
The Canadian province of Alberta has many more attractions, but the three lakes of Louise should be on any visitor’s must-see list.
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